Member Sign In

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate but affiliated companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.

Eastman, UNC Ink Research Pact

You have chosen to follow this author. You will receive an email notification when this author publishes a new article. Click submit to continue.

You are alredy following the Author

The Author could not be added at this time, please try again later. If problem persists, please contact Zacks Customer support.

Please Login

Eastman Chemical Company (EMN - Analyst Report) has entered into an agreement with Chapel Hill-based University of North Carolina (UNC) to conduct research in the fields of chemistry and materials science. The collaboration complements the earlier announced agreement between Eastman Chemical and North Carolina State University.

The agreement offers at least $1.5 million over a period of 6 years to aid the collaboration between Eastman Chemical scientists and UNC scientists, staff and students. Eastman Chemical and UNC will make joint efforts to bring innovative new ideas and technologies in market that run faster than traditional approaches.

This collaboration involves a series of programs including research projects, visits to both the UNC campus and Eastman Chemical manufacturing facilities and identifying and applying for federal or other funding opportunities.

Under the agreement, UNC’s chemistry faculty members will address Eastman Chemical developed problem statements or ‘Requests for Proposals’ (RFP) by submitting research proposals periodically. Eastman Chemical will then select the given UNC proposals for funding each year. The first decision regarding the projects is expected in spring 2013.

Last month, Eastman Chemical released its fourth-quarter 2012 results. The company slipped to a loss in the quarter hurt by losses related to pension benefit and other charges. Adjusted earnings, however, matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues rose at a double-digit clip riding on the contributions of Solutia acquisition, but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Eastman Chemical’s diversified chemical portfolio, along with its integrated and diverse downstream businesses remains its strength. It also benefits from business restructuring, cost-cutting measures and increased capacity additions. However, the company remains exposed to weak pricing. Uncertainty regarding the timing of a recovery in Europe also remains as overhang.

Top Zacks Features

Is it Time to Sell?

One of the most important steps you can take today is to set up your portfolio tracker on Zacks.com. Once you do, you'll be notified of major events affecting your stocks and/or funds with daily email alerts.

Zacks Research is Reported On:

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1986 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1986-2011 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly, an independent accounting firm.

Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.